Change of Heart
by ShinyModernOcean
Summary: Puck loved Quinn once. But when she changes senior year and takes her plan to get Beth back way too far, he's left questioning if he can feel the same anymore as events beyond his control unfold and friendships are tested.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. If I did, I would be wearing an iconic yellow hat, which, I'm sad to say, I'm not.**

**Summary: Puck loved Quinn once. But when she changes senior year and takes her plan to get Beth back way too far, he's left questioning if he can feel the same anymore as events beyond his control unfold and friendships are tested.**

This story basically came as a result of the promo for 3X07, the whole getting Beth back plan, and my great disappointment in Quick (which used to be really sweet in my opinion) as of this point. It is rated T for language as well as some slight sexual content that is bound to end up in the story and perhaps some very minimal non-graphic violence.

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><p><strong>Change of Heart<strong>

**Chapter 1**

It was undeniable that Puck had loved Quinn sophomore year. He had wanted to be with her, go through all her issues with her, maybe even give up some his stud ways so she wouldn't be mad at him all the time. Puck had even told her that right after they lost Regionals and Beth, the perfect little angel he now knew her to be, had been born. In shorter words, but words he thought fit.

Then junior year happened and it all went to hell. It was like Quinn had forgotten all about it. She magically ran off with Sam, and, well, Puck kind of gave up a little. He found a distraction in the girl named Lauren Zizes. Not that he had suddenly started digging on fat chicks; he just needed to find someone completely different and it had been presented to him by God in the girl who had saved him from a Porta-Potty.

Zizes had more of an attitude, looked nothing like Quinn, thought everything in the school sucked except for Mr. Schuester and wrestling. And Puck had to admit, even if she wasn't hot like all the Cheerios and led the whole school to think he was carrying his balls in a purse, she was cool to hang around., like a friend who he occasionally made out with. That's probably why he was upset when she dumped him. At least he had gotten _something_to keep his mind busy.

That brought Puck right back to Quinn senior year, though she was far from the Christian golden-girl she used to be. She was a Skank. She smoked. She did drugs in the bathroom and beat people up until they gave her and her "friends" money or whatever else they decided to take.

Talking her out of it all and getting her back in Glee club seemed impossible. He tried several times, but she blew him off.

It would always be "No way, _Puckerman,_ I found myself and this me" or "That Glee Club just ruined my life" or "Get away before I cut you," all in that new raspy voice of hers. The girl had always been stubborn, so Puck expected it to be hard.

But Shelby Corcoran managed to break Quinn out of it all. Quinn had come back to Glee club, dyed her hair back to blonde, stopped smoking, and reverted back to the Quinn Puck had loved. Or it seemed so, at least until he heard her ulterior motive.

Quinn wanted Beth back.

She was going to try to pretend to be a good person to get Beth back.

She was going to ruin Shelby's life.

The Quinn Fabray Puck knew, though she was always incredibly manipulative, had cheated on every boyfriend she'd ever had, and bitched everyone out, would never consider it. But Puck knew, though he didn't want to admit it, that that Quinn was dead. She had died over the summer, maybe earlier, if she had ever really existed.

But Puck couldn't let go that easily. What had ever happened to being a stud? This blonde had reduced him to goop, but he still couldn't let go, even knowing that.

"You in?" Quinn asked, obviously trying to rope him into her plans that she had just announced.

He knew what he wanted to say, prepared to say it, "Yeah, sure."

Damn. His mouth had moved on its own. What was he, Quinn's puppet? Where were the strings? Was she hiding them like she was hiding her intentions from her old friends, the people who trusted her, had wanted the best for her even if they messed up sometimes? Was she hiding them like she was hiding her now-clear insanity? Were the strings attached to the mask that had melted off with her plastic smile? Where the hell were the strings?

She had said something, but Puck didn't want to listen. He wouldn't even _try_ to comprehend her words, staring blankly at her mouth as her lips went through the motions. She paused, seemingly waiting for an answer.

"Yeah," that's what he always put on tests, and it had worked out well. What was the worst that could happen? Quinn getting mad?

From her facial expression, he didn't know what to expect, so he prepared for a flip-out, a screeching, crying rant on what was wrong with him. But it never happened. No, she didn't scream at Puck; she kissed him, pulling back with that sickening false smile of hers after a few seconds of yanking at those invisible strings, wherever they were.

It was quick, emotionless, a thank-you-but-I-don't-actually-give-a-damn-about-you kiss. Nothing more, nothing less. It was what Puck would expect from Santana Lopez, not Quinn, _never_ Quinn. Scratch that statement; Santana would make it feel good even if nothing her and Puck did ever mattered. This was nothing.

"So, see you later to talk about the plan?" Quinn asked after a second, smile broadening and shifting until it looked completely creepy, leading Puck to wonder if Quinn was possessed or if she was channeling her inner serial killer.

Puck nodded, trying not to stare at the twisted Cheshire cat grin plaguing that gorgeous face, "Where?"

"Behind the school, after school tomorrow," there was no question.

"Football practice," Puck pointed out, unable to say a complete sentence for a reason he couldn't figure out. Normally, people couldn't shut him up. Was his brain trying to tell him something?

Quinn's eyes flickered, and some sort of venom seeped into her voice, "Fine. After football practice then. And don't say you have somewhere else to go after that, Puck. You and I both know that all you ever have to do is screw cougars and cheerleaders. And getting Beth back's more important. You _do_ want Beth back, right?"

"Right," Puck really didn't know why he was enabling her. He should have stopped, but she was Quinn. He still loved her and he would make her happy at all costs.

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><p>Puck hurried off the field the second football practice ended, hoping to avoid any questions and to get behind the school quickly. It wasn't like Puck to blow everyone off for an entire day and not make any sex jokes. The only time he had done that was…well, never. Even a horrible concussion couldn't shut him up. And the whole football team knew Puck didn't have a concussion.<p>

Mike Chang seemed to notice the hurry, but the Asian didn't chase him down, much to Puck's luck. It was like Mike had lost some of his usual energy and drive. Not that Puck was complaining in this situation.

The only person who _did_ seem to have the urge to chase Puck down was none other than Finn Hudson. It was like Finn only wanted to get involved in people's lives when he had to or the person wanted him to stay away. Puck hoped Finn would just go shower so Puck could get everything he needed and change. Puck had somewhere to go and he was intent on getting there.

"You okay, dude? You're acting a little weird," Finn showed some sort of concern, trying to read into Puck's actions. "You're not even showering."

"I'm fine," the answer was short, and he figured he should add something to it, something open to interpretation that wasn't necessarily a lie. "I'm just thinking about how I screwed up."

Finn made an assumption, "That fumble wasn't that bad."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll forget it. Thanks, man," Puck hoped Finn would drop it, let Puck go on with his day. He felt he was safe when he closed his locker and started the walk to go talk to Quinn. Nothing could stop him. Nothing would—

"Puck, wait," Finn was obnoxious sometimes. "Did I do something to make you mad at me? You've been giving me these really short answers all day and I think I heard somewhere that that's a sign you've been cheating, but we're not in a relationship…wait, dude, did you think you think we were dating, 'cause I don't swing that way. No homo over here."

Puck stared at Finn to see if it was a joke, only to find that the quarterback really seemed to think that was a valid reason, "No, this sex shark doesn't swim in that ocean. If he got there somehow, he'd die since he wouldn't want to move and the sex shark's gotta keep going."

"Oh right: the sex shark thing," Finn muttered before going back to his further line of questioning. "So what's actually up? I know it's not the fumble"

"Uh…Jewish holiday," Puck replied. "I'm not supposed to talk too much about my issues. Even this is going against my religion and I'm 100% Jewish and proud, so I'm not going to go against the holiday anymore."

Finn seemed to be confused, more so than usual, "But Rachel was talking about her problems all day…"

"Rachel's a chick. It only applies to studly guys. Like the Puckster," Puck inched toward the exit slightly, glad to see Finn was buying it.

"Oh, that makes sense," Finn nodded. "What holiday is it anyway?"

"Yom Kippur," Puck didn't know why he had said it. It just slipped out. As the football team filed in, Puck decided to take his leave. "Later, Finn."

Finn was left standing there, vaguely remembering Rachel telling him Yom Kippur was something about not eating for some reason. Or was it the day that they lit all the candles, spun weird little top things, and got a lot of presents? The quarterback made a note to look it up on Wikipedia, the most reliable source he knew.

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><p>"You're late," Quinn noted unhappily. "Didn't you say you'd come here right after football practice?"<p>

"I had to get some stuff," Puck shrugged.

Quinn glared, "That could have waited."

"Did you want me to come out here in my sweaty football uniform?" Puck asked. "I'm trying to look out for you Quinn."

"Yeah, well…be on time next time," the blonde said sharply. "I have stuff to do and arrangements to make for this plan. Do you honestly think we can just wing it? Is that what this is heading toward?" Her eyes narrowed.

"No, no, bab—err, Quinn, I'm all for the plan. There's nothing I want more than for you to get Beth back," the words were shaky, but Quinn seemed to ignore that.

"Good," Quinn stated simply, glare letting up. "Now: the plan. I have it all worked out. We're going to plant all this bad stuff in Shelby's apartment that isn't safe to have around babies and then we're going to call Child Services. Shelby will be deemed an unfit mother and they'll rush to give us Beth as the biological parents."

Puck shifted his feet, "You really think they'll give her to us?"

"Who _else_ would they give Beth to with Shelby out of the way? We're the best option, Puck," Quinn responded, proud of her flawless plan.

"Foster care," Puck pointed out. "I mean, I have a record, we're both still in school, neither of us has a legit job. And if Child Services somehow found out that we put that stuff there, don't you think we'd get in trouble?"

Quinn's face went blank, "You're right. I'll need to figure something else out…"

She paced back and forth, thinking, wondering how to get back the child that she deserved so much. She hadn't thought of the repercussions. And if that wouldn't work, then what could they do? Quinn's brain suddenly formulated an idea, her lips curving into the smile of a madman about to hack someone to pieces with an ax.

"What?" Puck asked, questioning what Quinn could possibly be thinking.

"I've got a plan," Quinn proclaimed merrily, her voice almost sounding how it did when she was still completely sane. "I've got a _good_ plan. It's foolproof."

"What is it?" Puck wasn't sure if he should even question what was going through her head.

"Convince Shelby to let us babysit Beth," Quinn ordered. "I'll tell you then."

Puck nodded hesitantly, "Okay, I'll talk to Shelby, but I really don't want her to get hurt too much in all of this."

"If we want our baby back, sacrifices have to be made," the blonde explained. "You realize that right?"

"Yeah, but—" Quinn cut Puck off.

"We're going to get Beth back no matter what it takes because we have rights to her," Quinn insisted with an off-handed tone. Her voice sweetened suddenly. "I know you'll do the right thing here and I'll be waiting to hear when we're babysitting."

The brunet was silent, staring after the ex-cheerleader he used to love so much as she retreated into the distance with her last statement, obviously not wanting any argument. What had he gotten himself into?

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><p>AN: After looking over this for a while, I have deemed it decent enough to post, even if there may be one or two errors here and there. The flow may be a bit off with all the different sections, but I felt it would be better than two or three small chapters.

Anyhow, as for the actual story, Puck and Shelby are going to talk next chapter and Quinn's mysterious plan's first step will be put into action a little. A few more of the New Directions members will also get into the mix of everything.

Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.


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